Mabel's Silk Alphabet Sampler

[Mabel Figworthy]

No, don't get too excited -- I haven't actually stitched anything yet... This evening, after finishing the central bit of Serendipity and before starting on another BoInk square, I will hem the raw edge at the starting side of the aida band (as it's only four inches I think I can just about manage that ), and then work out what alphabet I will be using for the captions.

You see, at first I thought I'd keep a list of which letter was which silk on the computer, and possibly keep a print-out of the list with the sampler. But then I thought that was just courting disaster, in that if this sampler is ever going to be handed down the generations and end up at the Antiques Roadshow of 2235, the paper will by then have been long lost, and the computer document will be so obsolete no-one will be able to open it. Much better therefore to mark each silk on the sampler itself! I've been looking for small alphabets and combined a few ideas -- I'd prefer to do lower case & capitals, but that takes more room than just caps, because the lower case letters go above as well as beneath the writing line. Anyway, I did two mock-ups and would like your ideas about them:



As for the silks, I have decided to use both Chameleon Thread Shades of Africa and Soie d'Alger, even though they are the same silk, and likewise will use both Caron's Soie Cristale and Waterlilies, and Gumnut Stars and Aztecs (same silk but one is solid, one variegated). I haven't decided yet whether, when using a solid-shade silk, I will use several shades if I have them to give the letter more interest, or do it in one shade to contrast with the variegated ones. Here too your opinions would be valued!

One silk which is on the list but which I may not have enough of for a fil letter is Treenway's silk/wool mix -- as it came in a mixed bag I have only very little of it, so I may stitch that letter as an outline of cross stitches if necessary.

And here is the list of silks I'll be using -- 60 of them so far :

Alyce Schroth Fine Silk
Au Ver a Soie Soie d'Alger
Au Ver a Soie Soie de Paris
Au Ver a Soie Soie Ovale
Caron Impressions [silk/wool mix]
Caron Soie Cristale
Caron Waterlilies
Carrie's Creation Threads Silk
Chameleon Threads Shades of Africa
Colour Streams Exotic Lights (80/3)
Colour Streams Silken Strands
Colour Streams Silk Floss
Dinky Dyes Silk
Eterna Stranded
Eterna Mini Twist
Eterna Silk Twist 12
Glissengloss Colorwash
Gloriana
Gumnut Aztecs
Gumnut Jewels
Gumnut Opals [silk/wool mix]
Gumnut Stars
Hand-Dyed Fibres Victoria Clayton
House of Embroidery Raw Silk
House of Embroidery Fine Silk
House of Embroidery Twisted Silk
JEC Flat Silk
Kaalund Fine Mulberry Silk
Kacoonda Fine Silk
Kacoonda Hi-Twist Silk
Kacoonda Thick Silk
Kreinik Silk Mori
Kreinik Silk Serica
Kreinik Silk Bella
Madeira
Needlepoint Inc. Silk Floss
Pearsall Filoselle
Pearsall FiloFloss
Pipers Silks 90 Floss Silk
Pure Palette Baroque Silk
Rainbow Gallery Splendor
The Silk Mill
Stef Francis Filament
Stef Francis 12-stranded
Thread Gatherer Silk 'n Colors
Thread Gatherer Silken Pearl
Thread Gatherer Sheep's Silk [silk/wool mix]
Thredfairy Stranded
Thredfairy Super-lustre
Thredfairy Fine Silk Cord
Thredfairy Erawan
Treenway Silks Stranded
Treenway Silks Buttonhole Twist
Treenway Silks 20/2 Spun
Treenway Silks 8/2 Reeled
Treenway Silks Wool/Silk mix
Vineyard Silk Classic
Vineyard Silk Shimmer
Yli
Unbranded Chinese fine silk

[crazycat]

blimey mabel that is a lot ill be wathcing with interest as theres a few there i've had my eye on.

[RosemaryH]

This is going to be great to see develop, realluy looking forward to it.

Rosemary

[kazzi29]

im going to watch and learn with this one mabel!!
as im not really sure what u mean lol
sorry dont mean to offend

[mags]

Looking forward to this Mabel.
As far as the lettering is concerned I think lower case and capitals are easier to read, but it is a bit of a pain when you get letters clashing in the middle. Have you looked at smaller upper case with the larger capitals - might be a good compromise.

[Mabel Figworthy]

That's not a bad idea, Mags -- the only trouble is that (although you can't see it very well in the picture) the caps are only 2 stitches high and 1 stitch wide as it is. On evenweave I could do omething over 1, but it's aida band. However, aida band is much less stiff than ordinary aida, so there may be possibilities there

kazzi, not offended at all -- if there's anything you'd like to ask, feel free!

[Rose]

This is going to be so fun to watch. I like the second version that you put up, it looks better that way.

Such a great project to work on.

[Kute Kitty]

It's starting! Yay! *glues self to this thread*

I'd go with all caps for the silk descriptions, simply because of sod's law. This is the law that dictates that 58 of the 60 silks will have their descriptions fit just fine with the mixture of caps and lower case, but then those last 2, for some reason or another, will have major problems that would have been averted if you'd gone with all caps. This will naturally lead to cursing and people being afraid to approach you unless they come armed with chocolate. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing in and of itself I'm sure your family are quite fond of you when you're not frustrated and cursing and will still give you chocolate because they love you. Also, the all caps might be easier to read, as the letters are probably going to end up pretty small.

[mags]

[Mabel Figworthy]

I like your analysis, KK

and you're right, the letters are probably going to be quite small enough without me trying to do half stitches and so on -- if I use the lower case alphabet (which unfortunately I think looks much better than all caps!) most of the letters which have no ascenders or descenders (or flags and tails, as I've heard them call) will be only one square of 16ct aida

So caps it'll probably have to be then -- I may do a trial bit on the raggedy edge that i need to cut off the band anyway.

[Pengwenn]

I think the lower case ones are easier to read if you do them large enough and not too tiny. The uppercase ones looks too "in your face" but would be easier to read if they were smaller. I'm glad you have to make this decision instead of me.

[SusanF]

OOhhhhh I've been so looking forward to this SAL starting (no pressure Mabel, but have you seen how far the magic bench has had to stretch to fit us all on ). I too prefer the look of the upper and lower case rather than just all upper case lettering.

[~threadbear~]

I'm on the bench too, armed with chocolate incase!
I have to admit, I also prefer the lower case with capitals, I just think it looks better.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this start now.

[Mabel Figworthy]

OK, I've done a trial piece with both alphabets, and I think I'll go for the upper-and-lower-case one; I realise sometimes names may produce clashing lines, but as I have to chart each of the names separately anyway, I think I'll be able to get round that if and when it occurs -- somehow the caps-only version just doesn't look right. It's quite fiddly whicever version I use though!



And here is a start to the sampler itself -- no silk yet, but I thought I ought to mark the occasion of my starting it, and get my name in there somewhere . I used an alphabet that I charted years ago for a sampler/card I did for ... a wedding I think, I can't remember now! It's simple but versatile, so I use it quite a lot. Oh, the photo also shows the hemstitching I did to tidy up the raw edge.

[Rose]

Mabel tha is going to be wonderful. I love that you have marked the start of your experiment with your personalization.

[mags]

Neat hem and great beginning.
You've probably already said, but please remind us how long the band is

*Settles down to watch*

[Mabel Figworthy]

Well, I bought 4 metres of it just to be on the safe side -- so far I've got 60 silks or silk mixes to try, so two full alphabets and some numbers, but as the letters aren't all equally wide I can't really tell how long it's goingto be; and of course I may find some more silks...

[esseff]

I love the neat way you hem your edges - I was admiring them on your Serendipity sampler too. At the moment I just fold mine under and clip them into my snap frame and hope for the best.

[~threadbear~]

I'm really looking forward to this Mabel, you've hemmed it beautifully and writing the start date and your name really makes it totally personal.

[agi]

A great start, Mable!